Personal Injury: Walks, Ramps, Stairs and Steps

Annually there are a million
personal injury slip/trip/fall incidents and thousands of fatalities across the
U.S., many of them involving walks, ramps, stairs and steps. We are all susceptible
to falls involving ramps, stairs, steps, changes of level, handrails, and
guardrails (especially toddlers, children and the elderly). And stair injuries
to elders and infants alike can be life-threatening. So as a potential personal
injury litigant, what should you know about stairs and steps?

First, know that the design
and configuration of walks, ramps, stairs and steps are regulated by most
building codes across the nation, as well as by the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) and construction industry standards, such as ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials), among others.

Second, realize that such
codes and industry standards may regulate a comprehensive range of features of
walks, ramps, stairs and steps — locations, dimensions, steepness, clearance,
materials, construction details, handrails and guardrails and their strength,
level of illumination, markings and warnings, maintenance, etc.

Third, understand what makes
for good walks, ramps, stairs, steps and transitions of floor level:

A. To provide safe access for
either a wheelchair, or an elder with a walker, or anyone infirm or disabled —
and to comply with the ADA — floor and sidewalk ramps should be sloped no more
than 1 unit in 12, or no more than 5 degrees.

B. The most comfortable
exterior stairs for most people have treads about 12” deep and risers about 6”
high, and thus have a cumulative ‘slope’ of about 26.5 degrees. The ideal
exterior stair also has a riser with a slight ‘nosing’, or a riser that recedes
slightly at its base, to better accommodate placement of the foot while
ascending or descending.

C. The most comfortable
interior stairs for most people have treads about 11” deep and risers about
7.5” high. They should have slightly projected nosings (the forward-most ends
of the treads), and those nosings should ideally be rounded or beveled. Such
stairs thus have a cumulative ‘slope’ of about 34.2 degrees. Such a stair
design will comply with most residential or commercial construction codes
across the country.

D. Some residential or older
codes may allow, and some older structures may contain, stairs that are steep
and, in fact, hazardous. Such stairs may have treads as shallow as about 9”,
and risers as high as 8.5”, giving them a cumulative ‘slope’ of over 43
degrees. These stairs will feel quite steep to the average person, and will
afford little room or leeway in the placement of one’s feet while ascending or
descending, increasing the likelihood of a slip or fall.

E. The optimal mounting height
for handrails for all stairs is from 34” to 38” vertically above the leading
edge of treads or nosings.

Fourth, it is also helpful to
understand some common-sense considerations regarding walks, ramps, stairs and
steps:

Walking
surfaces are best when they are non-slippery, but provide sufficient
traction for shoes to ‘grip’.

To
provide the easiest and safest access for wheelchairs, elders with walkers
or anyone disabled, structures with few or no steps are ideal. Ramped
floor transitions complying with the ADA are best.

Isolated single steps are prohibited from commercial
or public facilities by many codes. Single steps anywhere outside a home
or within it — say, at a sunken living room — are a particular nuisance
and danger, because they are often unexpected, not noticed on approach, or
‘forgotten’.

Exterior stairs, steps, ramps and walks should
ideally be protected from the needless accumulation of water, snow, ice
and melting snow or ice.

Spiral stairs, winders, and any stairs with variable
treads or risers tend to be the most dangerous. Landings can offer areas
of respite in long staircases or at changes in direction or unexpected
stair transitions.

Steps and stairs are easiest to notice when they are
accompanied by handrails, guardrails, or changes in floor color, material
or texture, or other attention-getter.

Ramps, steps and stairs should always be well lit.

Many codes require that certain steps bear a
contrasting color along their leading edges to announce their presence.

Every set of stairs should be provided with a
handrail on at least one side. Ideally stairs should have handrails on
both sides. Handrails must be designed and mounted to sustain the lateral
force or load of a grown person (in many codes, that sustained force or
load must be 200 to 250 pounds at any point along the rail and in any
direction).

To be child-proof, stair handrails and guardrails
must be designed so as not to allow the passage at any point through the
handrail or guardrail of a 4” sphere (the approximate size of an infant’s
head).

Stairs should provide adequate clearance. In most
instances today, stairs should be no narrower than 36” wide. Sufficient
clearance should also be provided at the tops and bottoms of stairs and at
landings to enable safe maneuvering.

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